As I said somewhere before a difference of opinion is a good thing. Thats what it takes to be progressive instead of reactive. That being said I think that lowering oneself to name calling and making things personal is wrong and I for one WILL respond if I feel someone is being disrespectful to me or towards anyone else.
OK back to what I was trying to say. OPEC, not a fan, is not producing at 100%. They figure out where they want the price per barrel to be and they produce just enough crude to hit that mark. They oil co's do the same thing. They hold onto the oil and release it at a rate that manipulates the price at the pump. The proof is the record profits the oil co are making. It is a world wide industry and even if everyone in the US drove Hybrids it would not effect these co. If you produced widgets and everyone uses widgets everyday, to increase the profit margin they could slow making widgets in order to increase profits. If they doubled there $$ on each widget producing them at a rate of consumption, then cut the production to less than the rate of consumption they could at that point raise the price to triple their profit margin. OPEC is doing the same thing along with these oil cos. In business a co's concern is the profit margin and there are tons of ways to make it what they want. If the consumer does one thing the companies will do something to maintain that margin. Cost cutting actions. Move to where labor is cheaper, produce a less quality product by using cheaper parts, cut labor force, cut benefits to employees and so on. I'm not saying its right, I'm saying thats the way it is. NAFTA hurt this country tons by allowing US companies to move to where the labor cost is less in order to increase their profits. I blame the Unions in part for driving up the labor costs and forcing these companies to look elsewhere for labor. NAFTA just opened the door to allow this to happen. It all comes down to profits. The US is far for business friendly taxes by the states and federal govt and unions along with unfair trade agreements have made the US unpopular for business to be here. Who dose this hurt here? Labor, the American worker. Thats the way I see it. Oh and that HEMI is really good on the hiway. Runs on 4 cyl, 6, or 8 depending on demand.